Predicting who makes St. Louis Cardinals Opening Day as Spring Training begins

Catchers (2) -- Willson Contreras, Ivan Herrera

This position was also easy to fill out. With Andrew Knizner off the roster, the backup spot was granted to Ivan Herrera. Herrera, 23, has been putting on a show in the Caribbean series, and he is well deserving of a Major League roster spot. Contreras will take the reigns as the lead backstop for the Cardinals next year, though his time spent behind the plate will likely be capped around 110-120 games. His bat is too valuable to leave out of a lineup, so expect Contreras to be the designated hitter on occasion.

Pedro Pages is waiting in the wings should either one of Contreras or Herrera get injured, but if both stay healthy all year, this catching tandem could rank among the best in the National League let alone in all of Major League Baseball.

Infielders (6) -- Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Masyn Winn, and Matt Carpenter

5 of the 6 players listed above are obvious. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado are fixtures on the corners, and they remain in 2024. Brendan Donovan and Nolan Gorman will be fighting for second base starts, but the odd man out will happily take designated hitter at-bats. Masyn Winn has every opportunity to be the team's starting shortstop, but he isn't penned in. Underperformance in spring could detract from his starting spot.

If Winn starts in the minors, this list gets a bit more convoluted. The other challenging aspect of this exercise is who gets the 26th spot. Two months ago, the answer would've been Richie Palacios, but he was traded. One month ago, it was an open competition between Luken Baker, Jared Young, Buddy Kennedy, Jose Fermin, or even Thomas Saggese. Since then, however, Matt Carpenter has returned on a 1-year, $740,000 contract. Given his leadership, familiarity with the organization, and a guaranteed major league contract, it is likely Marp will get the final spot.

I wanted to go bold with the final roster spot and throw in someone like Cesar Prieto or Thomas Saggese, but Carpenter's guaranteed contract complicates things. He's not a very exciting 26th man, but it will be refreshing to see Carpenter back in St. Louis.

Outfielders (5) -- Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, Jordan Walker, Dylan Carlson, Alec Burleson

This part of the lineup is perhaps the deepest. Lars Nootbaar, Tommy Edman, and Jordan Walker are the starting outfielders, barring an injury or an apocalypse. Edman, fresh off a season in which he racked up 5 Outs Above Average in limited time, will claim center field. He should be fully recovered by Opening Day from his wrist surgery. Lars Nootbaar will finally get a full run (assuming he's healthy) in left field, and Jordan Walker will have every opportunity to show off his stuff in right field.

Dylan Carlson is a strong fourth outfielder, and Alec Burleson will fill in both in the outfield and first base. Any one of these players could be a starting outfielder for most teams in baseball, and the Cardinals are lucky to have all 5 on their roster right now. Behind these 5 outfielders, the Cardinals have Moises Gomez, Victor Scott II, and Michael Siani on the ready.

St. Louis's lineup features an array of handedness versatility (5 left-handed batters and two switch hitters), and positional flexibility. Edman can play any position except catcher, Donovan can play every position except center and catcher, Gorman can play second base or third base, Lars Nootbaar and Dylan Carlson can man all three outfield spots, and Alec Burleson can be adept in the corner outfield or first base. This lineup is talented, deep, and versatile.

Bullpen (8) -- Ryan Helsley, Giovanny Gallegos, JoJo Romero, Keynan Middleton, Andrew Kittredge, Andre Pallante, Zach Thompson, and Ryan Fernandez

Most of these reliever spots are guaranteed as a result of past performance and the capital--both player and financial--it took to get them. Ryan Helsley is going to be the team's resident closer for next year barring any injuries. He has been excellent in that role since he claimed it in 2022. Giovanny Gallegos and JoJo Romero will be the next batch of back-end relievers. Should Gallegos experience a return to his old ways, the Cardinals will have a pretty formidable back end of the bullpen, something they lacked last year.

Behind these three we see two guaranteed relievers in Keynan Middleton and Andrew Kittredge. Both have experience in high-leverage situations, and both are virtually guaranteed spots as a result of what it took to acquire them (millions of dollars and a decent role-player, respectfully). The final three spots are where the roster will see the most competition during Spring Training.

John King, Matthew Liberatore, Riley O'Brien, and Nick Robertson are all viable options. King and Libby would be left-handed options, while O'Brien and Robertson have interesting stuff. My personal choices would be Andre Pallante, Zach Thompson, and Ryan Fernandez. Pallante has reverse splits for a right-handed pitcher, and Zach Thompson has shown that he can thrive as a reliever. Perhaps the front office wants to keep him in Memphis to remain stretched out, but I could see a world in which he is the swingman for St. Louis.

The final spot goes to Ryan Fernandez. In Katie Woo's piece on The Athletic (subscription required) on the 26-man roster, she mentions how he was taken in the Rule 5 Draft, so he has to start on the roster or else his rights return to the Boston Red Sox. The bullpen likely won't be shaken out until the final days of Spring Training, however.

The St. Louis Cardinals clearly have depth for next year. While not many positions are elite, they have a lot of warm, serviceable bodies that they can throw in and be confident. Assuming strong health from certain players, it is likely we see a return to the playoffs in 2024 for the Cardinals.